Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages - Volume 8, Issue 1, 1993

The social meaning of Fanakalo (F) and the social motivation for using it in South Africa are the focus of this article. Ethnographic evidence assembled from a range of written sources reveals that largely unfavorable connotations are associated with F. On the strength of this data, the contextual characteristics of the use of F as an unmarked (or preferred) choice are described. It is shown that F is restricted to work (that is, to non-affective domains) and is used in interactions where there is an asymmetrical role and power relationship between the participants (best described as master-servant). Furthermore, F is negatively evaluated by Blacks, who are always the less powerful participants.Also considered is oral ethnographic data, in the form of spontaneous, naturally-occurring interpersonal exchanges and self-reports on why people use F. Examination of this data shows that in marked settings, F is exploited as a conversational resource between South Africans, whether Black or White. It is shown that in marked settings F is a marker of solidarity, whereas in unmarked settings use of the language connotes power and domination.

The aim of this article is a systematic investigation of certain grammatical aspects of three languages that came about as by-products of colonial expansion of the Dutch during the seventeenth century: Afrikaans, Negerhollands, and Berbice Dutch. The discussion is centered on three grammatical features that have played an important role either in creolis-tics or in theoretical linguistics: TMA-marking, adpositional phrases, and passive constructions. Since seventeenth-century Dutch is the common lexifier, this language is also taken into account in the overall comparison. It is shown that the three languages related to Dutch form a less homogeneous group than do some of the creoles related to English and French. The main conclusion is that while processes at work during creoli-zation do not have to be uniform and may have different outcomes, the social circumstances existing in the different contact situations constitute a significant factor in the development of the emerging contact languages.

In the study of article systems in creole languages, two opposing models of analysis stand out. On the one hand, Bickerton, in line with his bio-program hypothesis, proposes an article system in which there is a clearly marked distinction between the notions of specific and nonspecific reference. On the other hand, Janson explains the creole article system in terms of its transmission from the lexifier language, and its further development under the influence of the lexifier language.The capacity of these models to account for the article systems of Cape Verde and São Tomé Creole Portuguese is examined in a number of oral texts in these two languages. One feature of the analysis stands out in particular: once a discourse item has been introduced via the indefinite article, which marks it as both specific and new, no further marking of successive occurrences of that discourse item by means of a so-called definite article is necessary or even useful. This feature partially contradicts Jan-son's account and accounts for the failure of these two creoles to conform to Bickerton's universal system. Additionally, the paper considers a number of general principals governing the formation of pidgin and creole languages and the action of specific factors in their genesis.